System and process for converting non-fresh water to fresh water

Abstract

A method of converting non-fresh water to fresh water, referred to as the “Rosenbaum-Weisz Process”, is disclosed. The Process utilizes high temperature electrolysis to decompose the treated non-fresh water into hydrogen and oxygen. The generated hydrogen and oxygen are then combusted at elevated pressure in a high temperature combustor to generate high pressure high temperature superheated steam. The combustion of hydrogen and oxygen at elevated high pressure will prevent air from entering the combustor thereby preventing the creation of nitrous oxide (“NOX”) that might otherwise be created as a result of the high temperature created by the combustion. The heat from the high pressure high temperature superheated steam is then removed by a high temperature heat exchanger system and recycled back to the high temperature electrolysis unit. The superheated steam will condense, as a result of the heat extraction by the heat exchanger system, to produce fresh water.

1 - A method of converting non-fresh water to fresh water, comprising the steps of:
 (a) subjecting the non-fresh water to high temperature electrolysis whereby hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are produced and separated;   (b) compressing, cooling and storing the separated hydrogen gas and oxygen gas at elevated pressure;   (c) combusting the hydrogen gas and the oxygen gas at elevated pressure to produce superheated steam at high temperature;   (d) collecting superheated steam produced by the combustion in step (c);   (e) recovering heat from the superheated steam whereby at least some of the superheated steam condenses to produce fresh water; and;   (f) using at least some of the recovered heat as an energy input in step (a).   
     
     
         2 - The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-fresh water is selected from the group consisting of seawater, brackish water, waste water, polluted water, and water from a source selected from the group consisting of water from oil and gas production, flowback water from fracking, water production from tar sands, water from chemical/industrial/processing plants, water from mining/foundries operations and oil spillage. 
     
     
         3 - The method of  claim 2 , further including the step of pre-treating the non-fresh water. 
     
     
         4 - The method of  claim 3 , wherein the pre-treatment step comprises removing from the non-fresh water the non-water materials component selected from the group consisting of organics, algae and particulate such as sand, waste material, oil residues, metals and other impurities. 
     
     
         5 - The method of  claim 4 , further including the step of
 (g) pre-heating the treated non-fresh water prior to step (a); and   (h) removing the non-water materials such as salts and minerals, metals etc. prior to step (a).   
     
     
         6 - The method of  claim 5 , further including selling the non-water materials recovered in step (h). 
     
     
         7 - The method of  claim 1 , wherein the recovery of heat in step (e) uses a high temperature heat exchanger process. 
     
     
         8 - The method of  claim 7 , further including in step (g), elevating the treated non-fresh water to a temperature sufficient to create steam and supplying the steam for step (a). 
     
     
         9 - The method of  claim 8 , further including the step of using at least some of the recovered heat of step (e) for step (g). 
     
     
         10 - The method of  claim 9 , further including the step of using at least some of the recovered heat of step (e). 
     
     
         11 - The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of supplying energy for step (a) at least partially from an external source. 
     
     
         12 - The method of  claim 11 , wherein the external source of energy is selected from group consisting of solar energy, wind energy, nuclear energy, fossil fuel energy, and geothermal energy. 
     
     
         13 - A system for producing fresh water comprising:
 a pretreatment unit for pre-treating non-fresh water;   a high temperature electrolysis unit for receiving treated non-fresh water and for producing and separating hydrogen and oxygen gas from the treated non-fresh water;   a first compressor unit for compressing hydrogen gas produced and separated by the electrolysis unit;   a second compressor unit for compressing oxygen gas produced and separated by the electrolysis unit;   a hydrogen and oxygen combustor operable at elevated temperature and elevated pressure for producing superheated steam under high pressure temperature and pressure;   a collector connected to the combustor for collecting superheated steam produced by the combustor and wherein the collector is hermetically sealed to the combustor;   a storage unit for fresh water produced in the collector.   
     
     
         14 - The system of  claim 13 , further including a high temperature heat exchanging unit for recovering heat from the superheated steam in the collector. 
     
     
         15 - The system of  claim 14 , wherein the high temperature electrolysis unit is comprised of an evaporation chamber section and a high temperature electrolysis section. 
     
     
         16 - The system of  claim 15 , further including means for transferring the recovered heat from the collector to the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         17 - The system of  claim 16 , further including means for diverting part of the heat to the evaporation chamber and the balance to the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         18 - The system of  claim 17 , further wherein includes a heat exchanging unit for transferring recovered heat to the treated water in the evaporation chamber to produce steam. 
     
     
         19 - The system of  claim 18 , further including means for transferring the steam produced in the evaporation chamber to the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         20 - The system of  claim 18 , further including means for continuously removing the salts, minerals, metals and other contaminants from the evaporation chamber section. 
     
     
         21 - The system of  claim 19 , further including a heat exchanging unit for transferring the balance of the recovered heat to the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         22 - The system of  claim 15 , further including means for supplying DC current is to the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit from the AC/DC converter. 
     
     
         23 - The system of  claim 15 , further including means for supplying heat from external sources to the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         24 - The system of  claim 15 , further including means for separating the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas from the steam by way of electrodes. 
     
     
         25 - The system of  claim 15 , further including means for transmitting the separated hydrogen gas from high temperature electrolysis unit to the corresponding compressor unit and to be stored in a pressurized tank. 
     
     
         26 - The system of  claim 15 , further including means for transmitting the separated oxygen gas from high temperature electrolysis unit to the corresponding compressor unit for storage in a pressurized tank. 
     
     
         27 - The system of  claim 25 , wherein the hydrogen gas compressor is adapted to operate under elevated pressure and elevated temperature. 
     
     
         28 - The system of  claim 27 , wherein the storage tank is adapted to store the hydrogen gas under elevated pressure. 
     
     
         29 - The system of  claim 26 , wherein the second compressor is adapted to operate under elevated pressure and elevated temperature. 
     
     
         30 - The system of  claim 29 , wherein the storage tank is adapted to store the oxygen gas under elevated pressure. 
     
     
         31 - The system of  claim 15 , further includes means for insulating the evaporation section and the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit so as to minimize heat loss. 
     
     
         32 - The system of  claim 14 , further including means for transmitting the high pressure hydrogen gas from its high pressure storage tank to the hydrogen and oxygen combustor. 
     
     
         33 - The system of  claim 14 , further including means for transmitting the high pressure oxygen gas from its high pressure storage tank to the hydrogen and oxygen combustor. 
     
     
         34 - The system of  claim 14 , wherein the combustor comprises refractory material. 
     
     
         35 - The system of  claim 34 , further including means for insulating the combustor so as to minimize heat loss. 
     
     
         36 - The system of  claim 14 , further including means for insulating the high temperature heat exchanger system so as to minimize heat loss. 
     
     
         37 - The system of  claim 14 , wherein the thickness of wall of the collector is tapered along its length. 
     
     
         38 - The system of  claim 37 , wherein the collector is adapted to operate under elevated pressure and elevated temperature. 
     
     
         39 - The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of removing part of the generated hydrogen gas and oxygen gas of step (a) whereby the removed hydrogen and oxygen are not used in step (c). 
     
     
         40 - The method of  claim 39 , further including the step of selling at least some of the removed hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. 
     
     
         41 - The system of  claim 14 , further comprising means for removing part of the generated hydrogen gas. 
     
     
         42 - The system of  claim 14 , further comprising means for removing part of the generated oxygen gas 
     
     
         43 - The method of  claim 1 , further including the steps of
 (i) removing part of the heat recovered from the collector of step (e) whereby the removed heat is not used in step (a); and   (j) using some of the recovered heat as an energy input for another process.   
     
     
         44 - The method of  claim 43 , wherein the process in step (j) is the production of electricity. 
     
     
         45 - The method of  claim 44 , wherein the production of electricity includes using the heat of step (i) to heat water to create steam to run a steam turbine. 
     
     
         46 - The system of  claim 14 , further comprising means for removing part of the heat recovered from the collector to another process. 
     
     
         47 - The system according to  claim 46 , wherein the industrial process is an electricity generating unit. 
     
     
         48 - The method of  claim 1 , further comprising supplying additional hydrogen gas and oxygen gas for step (b) from a source other than the high temperature electrolysis of step (a). 
     
     
         49 - The system of  claim 14 , wherein means to facilitate the additional hydrogen gas and oxygen gas supplied for from a source other than the high temperature electrolysis process. 
     
     
         50 - The system of  claim 15 , wherein the evaporation chamber section is a unit separate from the electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         51 - The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of
 (k) diluting the non-fresh water of step (a).   
     
     
         52 - The method of  claim 51 , wherein step (k) comprises adding fresh water to the non-fresh water. 
     
     
         53 - The method of  claim 52 , wherein the fresh water added in step (k) is obtained from the condensed water of step (e). 
     
     
         54 - The system according to  claim 14 , further comprising a mixing station for diluting non-fresh water. 
     
     
         55 - The system according to  claim 54 , further comprising a conduit connecting the fresh water storage unit to the mixing station for introducing fresh water into the mixing station. 
     
     
         56 - The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of extracting heat from the cooling and compression of the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. 
     
     
         57 - The method of  claim 56 , further comprising the step of using the extracted heat as an energy input in another process. 
     
     
         58 - The method of  claim 57 , where another process is selected from the group of industrial processes consisting of a process of adding additional heat to step (f) an electricity generation process, and a drying process. 
     
     
         59 - The method of  claim 58 , further comprising a step selected from the group consisting of selling and using at least some of the electricity produced by the electricity generation process. 
     
     
         60 - The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a heat exchanger for extracting the heat from the cooling of the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas and from the compression of such gases. 
     
     
         61 - The system of  claim 60 , further comprising means for using the extracted heat in an industrial process selected from the group consisting of adding heat to the heat recovered from the collector, an electricity generation process, and a drying process. 
     
     
         62 - The system of  claim 14 , further including means for minimizing the corrosion of any part that is in contact with salts and minerals. 
     
     
         63 - The system of  claim 14 , wherein the high temperature electrolysis unit also includes a collector and a combustor. 
     
     
         64 - The system of  claim 14 , wherein the wall that the collector and combustor share in common is covered by ceramic tiles. 
     
     
         65 - The method of  claim 1  wherein the high temperature electrolysis of step (a) is carried out at a temperature ranging from 100° C. to just below thermolysis. 
     
     
         66 - The method of  claim 1  wherein the high temperature electrolysis of step (a) is carried out at a temperature ranging from 1000° C. to just below thermolysis. 
     
     
         67 - The method of  claim 1  wherein the high temperature electrolysis of step (a) is carried out at a temperature ranging from 850° C. to just below thermolysis. 
     
     
         68 - The method of  claim 1  wherein the high temperature electrolysis of step (a) is carried out at a temperature ranging from 100° C. to just below 850° C. 
     
     
         69 - The method of  claim 1 , further including the removing of gases other than hydrogen and oxygen generated by the high temperature electrolysis process. 
     
     
         70 - The method of  claim 69 , further including the selling of the recovered gases other than hydrogen and oxygen generated by the high temperature electrolysis process. 
     
     
         71 - The system of  claim 15 , further including means for removing gases other than hydrogen and oxygen generated by the high temperature electrolysis process. 
     
     
         72 - A high temperature electrolysis unit comprising a combustor, a collector and a high temperature electrolysis section. 
     
     
         73 - The system of  claim 72 , further wherein the high temperature electrolysis unit further comprising an evaporation chamber. 
     
     
         74 - The system of  claim 73 , further including means for minimizing the corrosion of any part that is in contact with salts and minerals. 
     
     
         75 - The system of  claim 74 , further including means for continuously removing the salts, minerals, metals and other contaminants from the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         76 - The system of  claim 72 , wherein the wall that the collector and combustor share in common is covered by ceramic tiles. 
     
     
         77 - The system of  claim 72 , further including means for insulating the high temperature electrolysis unit so as to minimize heat loss. 
     
     
         78 - The system of  claim 76 , further including means for insulating the combustor so as to minimize heat loss. 
     
     
         79 - The system of  claim 72 , wherein the thickness of wall of the collector is tapered along its length. 
     
     
         80 - The system of  claim 72 , further including means for supplying heat from external sources to the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         81 - The system of  claim 72 , further including means for separating the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas from the steam by way of electrodes. 
     
     
         82 - The system of  claim 72 , further including means for transmitting the separated hydrogen gas from high temperature electrolysis unit to the corresponding compressor unit and to be stored in a pressurized tank. 
     
     
         83 - The system of  claim 72 , further including means of removal gases other than hydrogen and oxygen generated by the high temperature electrolysis process. 
     
     
         84 - A high temperature electrolysis unit comprising of an evaporation chamber section and a high temperature electrolysis section. 
     
     
         85 - The system of  claim 84 , further including means for minimizing the corrosion of any part that is in contact with salts and minerals. 
     
     
         86 - The system of  claim 84 , further including means for continuously removing the salts, minerals, metals and other contaminants from the evaporation chamber section. 
     
     
         87 - The system of  claim 84 , further including means for insulating the high temperature electrolysis unit so as to minimize heat loss. 
     
     
         88 - The system of  claim 84 , further including means for supplying heat from external sources to the high temperature electrolysis section of the high temperature electrolysis unit. 
     
     
         89 - The system of  claim 84 , further including means for separating the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas from the steam by way of electrodes. 
     
     
         90 - The system of  claim 84 , further including means for transmitting the separated hydrogen gas from high temperature electrolysis unit to the corresponding compressor unit and to be stored in a pressurized tank. 
     
     
         91 - The system of  claim 84 , further including means of removal gases other than hydrogen and oxygen generated by the high temperature electrolysis process.